Originality is in short supply in “Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain,” but this yarn about 19th century friend-of-the-wilderness Grizzly Adams and his bear pal will easily fill tube slots for webs looking for family fare. The Larry Bischoff-William Brian Lowery script is way too formulaic and the thesps deliver remarkably wooden perfs that help make this a tough slog for anyone with a grade-school diploma. But younger auds may be able tooverlook clunky dialogue and enjoy the old-fashioned adventure.

Grizzly Adams (Tom Tayback) and his trusty bear Samson are recruited to find a trio of lost kids, and before you can say “dancing bear,” Grizzly and his goofy animal sidekick — who isn’t above jumping up on two legs and waving goodbye to people — are in hot pursuit of a gang of bad-guy prospectors, led by Professor Hunnicut (Joseph Campanella) and the incredibly inane Mr. Pettibone (Joel Rook). Along the way, there’s much talk of Native American mysticism and some less-than-impressive special effects. Tayback mostly just looks square-jawed and lacks the charisma necessary to carry the role of action hero-wilderness lover. Other thesps don’t fare much better.

Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain

(FAMILY ADVENTURE)

Production

A Mark of the Bear Partnership production. (International sales: Soho Entertainment, New York.) Produced by Link Wyler, Barbara Rohdie.